Last Saturday night Seattlest trundled off to McCaw Hall for opening night of Die Fledermaus (running through January 28). We were a little doubtful about just how much fun the operetta (a word that means, "before there were Broadway musical-comedies") would be. General Director Speight Jenkins had cast some giant-voiced Wagnerians in the leads of a lithe, witty farce and it seemed counterintuitive, to be frank with you. With an icing-thin plot involving an extended, not-very-funny practical joke, Fledermaus only works if the Viennese tendency to waltz in the face of disaster perfectly balances the sad reality of a couple who have gotten tired of each other and are looking elsewhere for fun. more ›